Discussion

Monday lunch in Charleston

Hi! We are planning a trip to Charleston in early May. We're going to be arriving Friday, spending the weekend in Kiawah for a wedding, then back to Charleston Sunday evening until Tuesday. I have plans for Friday lunch at SNOB, Sunday dinner at Husk, and Monday dinner at FIG. I'm struggling with finding the perfect lunch spot for Monday. It seems that most of the recommendations on the boards I've read through either don't serve lunch or aren't open for on Monday (Cru Cafe). We're staying at the Vendue Inn and won't have a car in Charleston, so location is key. I've considered moving the SNOB lunch to Monday and doing Cru on Friday, but I am so eager to try to SNOB, I'm hesitant to move it later in the trip. Looking forward to hearing your suggestions! THANK YOU!

You have several good options for Monday. Look at Amen Street, Dixie Supply, or Gaulart & Maliclet, aka Fast and French. Also 82 Queen, and Jestine's are both open on Monday. See which one looks good to you.

I enjoy having lunch at Fleet Landing. The food is not in the league of the other places you are going and won't knock your socks off, but it is fine and if it is a nice day it's nice to be by the water.

Hey Sue, a friend of mine wants to know about Fuel Charleston. Any good? I think she saw it on tv.

Pedicab story: I was at Fig w/ a bunch of my cycling team. After dinner w/ cocktails and wine, about half of us went home. The adventurous half went "out". I was in the wrong half, but the story they tell is on the way one of them made the pedicab dude let her pedal. Apparently he was slow ;-)

We ended up at Closed for Business as it was close to where we were strolling when we got hungry. My boyfriend loved his burger. The rest of the trip was very successful too. I had my very first shrimp and grits at SNOB. We loved Husk and FIG. Even snagged a few extra cocktails at the Husk Bar, which was amazing. It was such a treat when the bartender with the big beard whipped up a delicious drink when I asked him to make something me with Hendrick's gin.

Sorry for the huge delay in responding! This is going to be quite the recap:

We had our first meal in Charleston at SNOB, where I had the shrimp & grits, as I mentioned. My boyfriend had the lunch special with some kind of lasagna. I was pleasantly surprised by the shrimp & grits as I didn't think I was in the mood for that, and it was truly good.

Then we went to Kiawah for the wedding. The dining options on the island were limited, but we had a decent little breakfast at the Southern Kitchen there and a satisfying BBQ chicken salad (me)/ pulled pork sandwich(him) at the Cherrywood BBQ, where we overlooked alligators on the golf course.

We had dinner at Husk when we arrived in back in Charleston. Fortunately, Husk has it's menus archived on the website, so I was able to pull up the one from the night we went. To start, I had the Chilled Cucumber “Gazpacho”, Pickled McClellanville Shrimp and Fennel, SC Buttermilk Crème Fraiche ($13) and my boyfriend had the Southern Fried Chicken Skins with Hot Honey Garlic Sauce ($9). I loved mine. A perfect hot day soup and the shrimp were delish. The chicken skins were great too, but perhaps a dish better shared with a bigger group. It was a lot for him to eat by himself (and he loves to eat).

Then I had the Sunburst Farms Trout, Sweet Peas and Charred Turnips, Black Cherry Tomatoes with Meyer Lemon and Herb Broth ($26), and he had the Heritage Pork Chop from Adam Musick with Smoky Field Peas and Butterbeans, Heirloom Kale, Anson Mills Farro, Pot Likker ($25). Both were great. I liked mine better than his and he liked his better than mine, so we did a good job of ordering! We shared a side of the Citrus Glazed Squash and Zucchini with Spring Onion and Bok Choy ($7), which I loved, we didn't really need all that food.

The cocktails were also fantastic (pictured). Maybe even more memorable than the food, and I don't mean to say that we didn't enjoy our meal--the drinks were just that good. I had the Carriage Tour Punch (St. Germaine, blood orange liquor, gin, chamomile, honey syrup. This punch is good to the last clippity-clop, drippity-drop), which I need to figure out how to recreate at home, and he had some creamsicle-vodka cocktail that I can't find on the menu, but he loved. The cocktails were so good that after dinner we went to the Husk Bar and had a couple more!

The following day we had lunch at Closed for Business. My boyfriend loved his burger. My salad was good.

We met the newlyweds that evening for a drink at The Gin Joint, which was a fantastic little bar (with VERY slow service)....then we had dinner at FIG, where I had probably the best gnocci of my life (RICOTTA GNOCCHI and BORDER SPRINGS FARM LAMB BOLOGNESE…$13). Honestly, it was so good, I don't remember much of what else was eaten (fortunately, I took a picture of our menu with my phone...pictured).

I had the Suckling Pig Confit with soft polenta, ramps and mushrooms, which was maybe not exactly what I had envisioned and paled in comparison to the gnocci. My boyfriend had the Porchetta Tonnato with celery hearts, capers, olive, and preserved lemons to start. I think that also wasn't exactly what he was expecting--he enjoyed his Pan Roasted Black Bass with asparagus, truffle emulsion, and fresh dug potatoes much more. I know the newlyweds had some oysters to start, but I don't remember what they had as entrees. I do remember that everyone agreed that my gnocci was the best thing we ate.

We also had a couple cocktails there. I had the daily special, which was something with gin and dill. It's hard for me to say no to that combo. The newlyweds loved their negroni selections.

We had a great little trip, and I'm only disappointed I couldn't fit more amazing restaurants in our schedule.